BubbleStream

Marcha A Fox

Refractions of Frozen Time

Synopsis

A discovery that links two dimensions of time. . .A prison ship’s dirty little secret. . .Esheron has answers but will they arrive before it’s too late?
Creena Brightstar believes the crystals discovered in the caverns can bring her family back together at last. But before she can finish unlocking their secrets Integrator forces discover their underground hideout, forcing a harrowing escape loaded with unexpected consequences. The dark and lonely days that follow change Dirck forever as fate plays out a hand dealt on Earth years before. Will time relent and give everyone a second chance?
Meanwhile, Augustus Troy is on the move again, this time armed with a weapon capable of wiping out anyone opposed to his despotic goals. Do the Brightstars have what it takes to survive their final battle? Or will the family’s longed-for reunion take place in another dimension of time and space?

Author Biography

Marcha Fox’s passion for science fiction began as a child. Her determination to write in that genre knew no bounds, such that she even went back to college in her 30s to obtain a bachelor’s of science degree in physics, after which she spent over 20 years working at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Science and engineering experience notwithstanding, it’s the unexplained mysteries of the cosmos, such as the concept of a universal consciousness, which provide the setting for Beyond the Hidden Sky, first volume of a four-part series. Centered on the Brightstar family who has been torn apart by a storm of political and scientific intrigue, they will stop at nothing until they are reunited.

Author Insight

The Bezarna Express' Dirty Little Secret

Onboard the Bezarna Express, Laren's thoughts take a different turn. No longer thinking like a victim, he considers factors that suggest the prison ship may have a dirty little secret. One he may be able to exploit. . With blatant executions forbidden by the HIO, those worthy of a death sentence are instead exiled to Bezarna, a blackhole from which there is no escape. But the real question is do they ever arrive?

Book Excerpt

Refractions of Frozen Time

The Bezarna Express

Laren slumped back in his seat, staring blankly at the seamless curvature of the passenger compartment. An unpadded bench followed the perimeter except for the alcove that led to the sanicube and where they picked up their twice-daily rations. Sleeping cylls were stowed in the domed ceiling above, destowing automatically at sleepzone onset.

Whoever had designed it for Bezarna runs had been an obvious master at psychology as well as engineering. Six passengers remained including himself, three having already resorted to their captor’s supposedly humane alternative to commit suicide via the airlock. If all prisoners opted for a fate that was known versus one that wasn’t then a perfectly good space vehicle would go to waste.

He straightened as a new thought chain developed. No doubt they were being watched, even with escape impossible. A successful escape you survived, he thought grimly, or it was pointless. Knowing the likes of Spoigan, Troy and Argo they probably tuned in on their situation using tachyonic video on a regular basis for entertainment purposes. They could even use such transmissions to scare others into submission by seeing how convicts en route to Bezarna dealt with their imminent demise. Undoubtedly witnessing someone choose the airlock rather than never-ending yet meaningless life on a blackhole made for good INTEGRATOR motivational material.

So what if everyone resorted to that? What if they had an empty spacecraft worth nearly as much as a small battleship on a heading toward Bezarna? Would they kiss it goodbye or bring it back?

He’d been around long enough to know that finances were seldom a driver for a dictatorship. Nonetheless, the quality of the vehicle made more sense if it was retrievable. And if that was the case, if he could fool them into thinking everyone had checked out, preferring to explode their earthly remains in deep space rather than face an unknown and possibly worse fate, maybe there was roundtrip possibility after all.

His eyes met those of fellow Clique member, Jirhod Rhodus, seated on the opposite side. Rhodus was quite a bit older than Laren, perhaps even old enough to be his father, his once-blond hair interrupted with splatters of grey surrounding rounded features set with penetrating ice-blue eyes. An imposing man built more like an Erebusite than typical human, he’d lasted as long as he had because no one dared confront him. His demise had come when he’d insisted on an audit and recount from the election that brought INTEGRATION to Pi, one of only two remaining Neutral regions. As Deputy Territorial General he’d been vocal and effective, too much so, because he’d suddenly disappeared, a former Clique mystery now solved by his presence.

Laren held his gaze and smiled, trying to figure out how to communicate based on the premise they were being monitored. A moment later he extracted his c-com from his breast pocket and psied his thoughts to it, then did the necessary coding to grant Rhodus access.

“Just playing a little mind game,” he said innocently, handing over the device. “Want to play?”